One Purpose -- Monitor freelance photographer Jeff Bruno captures the essence of the 2014 March for Life in Washington, D.C. As in past years, hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend including a large contingent from the Trenton Diocese. Jeff Bruno photo

Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M.

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ of the Diocese of Trenton,

Although the recent amputation of my lower left leg will keep me from marching with you in Washington, D.C. this year, I will be marching with you in my heart.

"Every Life is A Gift" is a beautifully profound theme for this year's march that reveals a conviction of faith so deep and dear to our hearts. Not only is "every life a gift" but every moment of life is a gift, from conception to natural death.

Our presence in Washington, along with so many thousands of other marchers from all over our country, is a powerful sign that we Catholics mean what we profess when we identify ourselves as "pro-life." Since arriving as your Bishop, few gatherings strike me as bearing such great witness to the "Gospel of Life" and few sights fill me with such pride as seeing pilgrims from the parishes, schools and institutions of the Diocese of Trenton huddled together as they march, carrying the emblem of the Diocese through the streets of our nation's capital. Yes, "Every Life is a Gift" --- from God and to God.

Together, wherever we may be during the annual march, let's lift up that gift of life --- every life and every moment of life --- in gratitude, in prayer and in the hope that the only "choice" people will embrace is a choice for life. My prayers are with you all!